T 

MEADE 




4CT 

548 


!opy 1 


CONFESSION- 


JOEL CLOUGH, 


Whe wm executed as Mount Molly, J\\ jr. jruiy , imi 

POR TBE 


MtfRBER ©I 

MRS. M<MRY HjMMMJL TOJ\\ 



y/2?? 


WnH BIS LIFE, 


WRITTEN BT ONE THAT KNEW Hlflx.;„ 

AlSO HIS LAST SPEECH AT THE GALLOWs, 
Taken In[short hand by a spectator, with likeness, and Verse* 
ON THE DEATH OF MRS. HAMILTON. 
nevKyobk. 


IVirtted and sold wholesale and refail, No. 5, Chatham square, up stair#, 
gad at J. Scarlets, No. Market street^Phil&delpjp^ 

1683, 



THE 

€oj\*fessiojv 

GF 

JOEL, CLOI GI. 

.“I, am,” [and with uplifted hands] 1 declare in the presence of Almighty 
God — “I am innocent.” There was an attachment between Mrs^ Hamilton 
atjd myself, and we were at the time engaged.— She .broke it oft. I settled 
up my business, by her request, and left the place. There has been much 
said there about my character.— The most desperate part of which is the 
occurrence in New-York. With regard to Mrs Hamilton’s character I have 
nothing to say. She was a virtuous and honorable woman, and I loved her. 
if there is virtue in the Catholic religion 1 am prepared. 1 hope Almighty 
God will have mercy on her souk I fear she died unprepared Wh^n 1 left 
New-York, my mind was greatly depressed. I threatened to take my own 
life, and she was aware of it I went to bed that morning, and made up my 
mind to take my life, and sunk into a swoon, as near as I can recollect. In 
this situation, Mrs. Hamilton came to my room, I did not call her. She 
shut the door. I laid on my bed, with my face towards the wall. She said, 
“ Clough, what is the matter.” I said I felt very bad, and wished her to give 
me some laudanum- She asked how much I said what you please. She 
gave me some, and said I must get up. (There was a noise in the entry ) 
1 said, if you have any thing to say to me, say it quickly. I pu* my hand in 
my pocket, to get the key to give to her — 1 wished her to posse** ail that I 
Rad. She went out. I went to the door and saw Jane in the entry. I push- 
ed too the door. She peeped through. I was in the act of taking mv own 
life- Ha$ the dirk in my pocket She came in. I closed the door. I told 
her I should take my life, and she interfered and put her hand on my shoul- 
der. I told he to go out. I reflected a moment, and after striking her one 
blow, why did I strike her eleven? Why did I not strike my own heart. I 
v was very weak, and the dirk dropped out of my hand, and I could scarcely 
V* get to my bed. I was on the point of taking my own life, if she had stayed 
, out of my room, she would have lived, and I should have been in my grave. 
L feel that I am entirely innocent of her blood, for I don’t tecollect what I did. 
I was tost at the time, settled up my business, after my engagement had bro- 
ken-off, and went to New-York and Albany and relumed. I was not myself, 
and was on the eve of taking my own life. I never called her to my room. 
She came in voluntarily. Here the court proceeded, and as the Chief Justice 
was about to pronounce the sentence! he requested him to forbear, and said, 
if my death is required, I am to suffer (Here the court proceeded, and he 
again observed) it is not for myself 1 do not fear death— 1 have already suf- 
fered death. The honorable Jury have not been sufficiently enlightened on 
the subject. There are many things yet wrapp’d in daikness. I knew 
nothing of Mrs. Hamilton coming into my room. There are things stated, 
as regards my character while in Connecticut, I think it my duty to contradict. 

I was appointed, on recommendation of Mr Mallary, of New York, super- 
intendent on the Farmington aqueduct, where Hopkins was employed as en- 
gineer- I considered myself master of my trade; and I soon discovered that 
he was incompetent to take charge of that magnitude* Under my influence, 
after a violent personal qusirftjv FieVas removed from ffrat part of the line, 


$ 


and always entertained animosity towards me, and thought when he saw 
me confined ip this box, it was a proper time to show his hatred .and 
malignity. I reel that I am not guilty. I do not fear death, but fear thatl 
am not prepared- (Here the court proceeded, and pronounced the sentence 
of the law.) 


Joel Cloug i is the son of a respectable farmer in New Hampshire, 
who has been dead several years. He was an Irishman, who settled in 
New Hampshire in the infancy of thaf country. Bis fourth son, Joel, 
was ever a wild, headstrong undutiful boy, whose self-willed propensi- 
ties, and ungoverned passions, led him into so many difficulties, that 
his parents often expressed their apprehensions of his dying an untime- 
ly death. As he advanced tpwards maturity, his father died, and his 
mother: unable to controul him, left him to pursue his own course, till 
she was reduced to ralher embarrassed circumstances, when an elder 
son interfered, and secured their aged parent from being further injured 
by Joel. He then embarked on the world’s vast tide, to sink or swim 
alone. But the variations of his fortune would be tiresome io the 
reader, and uninteresting to society : suffice it to /-ay, he has'seeu all 
the variety of life incident to dissipated men, withou Irieuds or fortune. 
The school system of New England early insured him the rudiments 
of a genteel education. He In-d a fine ear for music, and the winter 
singing-schools had given him « slight knowledge o! the scientific part 
of that art. A short time past io youth, with a stone mason, had in- 
structed him in the rougher parts of that trade, and it is represented that 
lie worked at it in the interior of New* York state. How Mr. Mallery 
had influance sufficient to recommend him to so trustworthy a situa- 
tion as be had on the Morris Canal, is enigmatical, as his situation in the 
city ol'New-Y'ork was at best ralher equivocal, and his resources lor 
living scant and unknowu. Few who stood forward as his friends 
seemed to know more of him than his boyhood and his residence 
at Mrs, Longstreth’s, after his engagements at the canal had given 
him some claim to respectability. “ His language,’’ says a gentleman who 
conversed with him in M. H., “was coarse. His ideas low, and profane, 
and such as might be expected from a man whose habits had been formed 
amidst brethels, gambling-houses, and taverns.” Such was the society he 

was connected with, till recommended by a Mr. M ,to the Canal 

Committee. From that period, his ideas soared to genteelity and polished 
society : to this, his residence in the respectable house of Mrs. Longstreth 
seemed a prelude. Could he have rnairied Mrs. Hamilton, her standing in 
society, combined with his name, might have brought him forward, and he 
might have become a valuable member, but her cultivated mind, pure heart’ 
and unsophisticated manners, was disgusted by his pretences, and her judg 
ment assured her, that in such a union misery would be her fate. Heuce her 
informed mind and heart recoiled from him with trembling disgust. “ f 
could not, mother, dear mother, 1 could not marry him.” — These were her 
dying words, aod the sentiments of her pure heart -yet for this he slew 
her. 

During his contract on the rail road, suspicion marked his course. His 
coadjutor, Mr. Shippen, was not easily duped, and detection would soon 
have followed, had Mr, S have persevered. A depraved man can no more 


4 


support. an appearance of virtue and integrity long, than he can wear amasi 
through life. It is' religion only can purify the heart after its corruption in 
the sinks of vic« which Clough frequented in New-York, previous to his en- 
gagement on the canal. His last visit to that city is only a miniature pic- 
ture of his former actions. 

F re love hath hound the Hon 
With a silken thread— 

Could Mrs. H. ever have listened to a talc of love with complacency from the 
lips of a man fr*sh from the pestilential stwes ?— impossible. He well knew 
that, and, coward like, determined on her murder, which he perpetrated, but 
could not kill himself, — his ooward soul shrunk affrighted from the dirk 
et reeking with the heart's blood of her he loved : and it remains with jus- 
ce and the offended laws of his country, to avenge the innocent blood on 
re head of her murderer. 

OZOWGH’S ZAST SPEECH. 

Let all persons who now view my untimely death, take warning by my 
atimely doom, and learn to control their passions, or, like mine, they will 
•come their masters. Oh ! my crime is intolerable! Gracious heaven, can 
y never failing mercy pardon a wretch whose hands are dyed with the life's 
Mood of the being* on earth he loved best ? Loved — I adored her — I murder- 
I her ! What fiend impelled me to the act, I know not. An exile from my 
itniiy, I wandered far alone in this vast wilderness No congenial mind 
net mine, till I became a resident in Mrs. Longstreth’s family. It was there 
first beheld her amiable daughter, Mary Hamilton ; and while her widow’d 
eart was bleeding with grief, and her eyes flowing with tears for the loss of 
ier husband, my heart imbibed that impression, that caused her foul murder, 
md my justly merited death ! Oh, God ! and did this vile hand dare to deface 
vith brutal rage, that bosom, on which 1 fondly hoped to rest? Have I rob- 
ed the woman I loved, ef life? Her mother, my venerated friend of her 
hild, the innocent talented darling of her only charming parent. Her sis* 
is, of that fraternal affection with which her heart overflowed, for them and 

<ciety, of one of its brightest ornaments. My only parent of her But 

>!d ! there nature no more — freely have I lived, basely have I acted by Mrs. 
ongstreth’s family. And justly am I sentenced to the death I merit. 

Angelic Mary, ah! farewell ! 

You will with angels, I with devils dwell. 


LINES ON* 

IBS BE&TH OP MESS. m. MlllLTOK. 

[by A LADY.] 


Injured excellence, farewell, 

'hv spirit doth with angels dwell ; 

'efore that God whom you adore, 
r ou will joyful live forever more:— 
ire spirit, when from realms of bliss, 

>u view the friends you’ve left in this, 

). take a guardian angel’s care 
f thy bereav'd infant young and fair, 
ay death thy earthly parent spare, 
a guard thy child with mother’s care: 
eav’n shed o’er her breast its .peace divine, 
nd shield her with its care benign. 


5 


sxEotmow or joex cxovaa. 


Yesterday was the day appointed by the authorities of New Jersey for the 
execution of Joel Clough for the murder of Mrs. Mary Hamilton. The ex- 
raordinary atrocity of the act, and the circumstances attending the trial, and 
he recent escape of the murderer, had given more than common interest to 
he execution; and at an early hot 
f Mount Holly, were crowded wi 
:nd of the unfortunate man. 

The Rev, Mr. Wilner, and one or two religious laymen, were with Clough 
ill the night previous to his death. I He attended to their instructions until 
tboul midnight, and then lay down jmd slept composed for about three hours. 
\bout SiO minutes past (noon,) the Sheriff brought the culprit from the prison. 
4e w. s attended by the Rt. Rev. pisliop Doane, Rev. Mr. Wilmer, and sev 
ral other clergymen. He was pliced in an open dearborn, in which were 
he sheriff and the clergymen, andlconveyed to the place of execution, abouj 
wo and a half miles from Mount Holly near Raneocus bridge. The prison- 
er was dressed in a white roundabout, vest and pantaloons; his breast was 
pen, and in going to the place of execution, he requested one of the clergy- 
ien to place a handkerchief over his neck and breast to protect it fioni the 


r in the morning of yesterday, the streets 
h persons who had come to witness the 


Five volunteer companies of infantry were stationed round the gallows, 
nd a company of cavalry attended jthe culprit from the prison to tht place of 
xecution. Clough seemed through the whole of the painful ceremony, to be 
aim and collected; he had manifested a spirit of repentance while in prison, 
nd had received the rite of baptism, administered by Bishop Doane. 

About twenty minutes past one ifclock, the prisoner arrivsd at the place 
he descended from tie dearborn with nit assistance. .and hav- 
whom he recognized, he ascended the 

Bishop Doane, and Mr Wilmer, of the 

Episcopal Church ; and Mr. Ashtoh, of Philadelphia, and Mr Shepherd, of 
Iount Holly, of the Baptist Church ; and the Methodist clergyman of Pem- 
srton, also went upon the platform. The appropriate service was read by 
lshop Doane, and a prayer was made by Mr. Wilmer. — Bishop Doane then 
;ad a letter from Clough to his mother, and also the cor. ft ssion of the ison- 
•. Several hymns were sung, and subsequently there was sung the hymn, 
ommencing, 


f execution 
lg taken leave of several persons 
latform and sat down in a chair. 


When I can read my title dear. 

To mansions in the skies, 

I’ll bid farewell to every fear, 

And wipe my weeping eyes. 

During the whole of these solemn performances, Clough evinced much 
station, frequently arising from his chair, moving about, wringing his 
nds, &c. He took a solemn and affectionate leave of the clergymen who 
tended him, about a quarter past two o’clock. The sheriff then adjusted the 
pe, in which he was aided by Clough. Alter the rope was placed over the 
Hows, Clough desired that it plight be taken down — he then raeas ted with 
s arm the length of rope necessary to allow him sufficient fall, and after 
uie other regulations, in all of which the prisoner seemed to take an active 
;rt, his arms was pinioned, and the white cap placed on his head and d awn 
er his face. In this position he stood a few minutes, when the sheriff 
ruck down the support ofthe platform, jand Joel Clough was launched into 
.ernity. A slight muscular eenvulsion was all the movement visible in the 


t> 

body while it was suspended. In about thirty minutes after the execution, 
the b< dy wtts taken down and placed in a coffin. 

Notwithstanding the immense number of persons assembled, nearly twelve 
thousand, there was no disorder to nur the solemnities of the occasion 

The CONFES ION of Mr. Clough, written by himself, and read from 
the scaffold to the surrounding multitude, in a remarkably distinct, and impres- 
sive manner, by Bishop Doane, embodied a brief outline of his life, from his 
infancy, to the period of his impiisonment. In reference to the crime, for 
which he has suffered, he made some disclosures, which place the subject in 
a different light from that in which it has been heretofore viewed. He states, 
(after appealing to that God before whom he was to appear, for the sincerity 
of his story,) that Mrs. Hamilton had made an engagement of marriage with 
him She subsequently manifested a change, and eventually declared it im- 
possible for her to fulfil her promise, and in various ways showed that her 
affections had cooled He was exceedingly hurt and irritated by her conduct, 
and declares that his object in visiting New-York, was to withdraw himself 
from her society ; that after havmg been, while there, led into some dis- 
creditable scenes, which he looked upon as completing his disgrace, he re- 
turned to Bordentown, saw Mss. Hamilton, and informed her of his misfor- 
tunes. On learning that he had lost his money, she offered to give him all 
the money she had in her possession, and in addition to give him her gold 
watch. These offers he declined, but renewed the subject of their engage- 
ment, and told her that if she would consent to be his wife, al 1 would be well, 
and they should be happy. She refused.be says, to give him any encourage- 
ment. and in a manner calculated to wound his feelings. 

From that time, he observes, the idea of destroying her entered his mind. 
He acknowledges t h it her death was premeditated ; that his intention was 
to destroy her, and then to commit suicide. From the declarations which 
he had made to Mrs. Hamilton, she had reason to suppose that he intended 
to destroy himself; and it was from a feeling of anxiety, arising from her 
appiehenstons on his account, that she'probably entered his room on the day 
of the fatal murder. He says he did uot call her. She same in of her own 
accord 

When he saw her, he advised her, fot her own safety to leave the room. 
She did so, but immediately returned. K)n her second entrance, he had left 
the bed on which he had been lying, and was on the opposite side of the 
room Ht was faint, and she observing he looked ill, went to him and offer- 
ed to assist him to the bed. While doing this, and while his left hand rested 
upon her shoulder, he drew the daggar, which was concealed about his per- 
son, and gave her a severe stab. At this instant, consciousness forsook him, 
and he repeated the stabs with great violence. He was actuated by jealousy, 
pride a id revenge. 

I* vvas his determination that if she would not be his, she should never be 
anothers. The love which was at first pure and ardent, became changed at 
times t‘ a fee ing ol haired.* 

Th* trial, lie says, was lair and impartially conducted, and he is aware 
that the vet diet and sentence were perfectly just. 

That he sight of hei, and the idea that she was lost to him forever, but 
that he migh live to see her in the arms* of another, drove him to phrenzy, 
which armed him with resolution sufficient to strike the deadly blow, that 
would, he fancied, emancipate him from all his sufferings in this world. Im- 
pelled b* this. wild fancy, lie seized the fatal steel, and would perhaps have 
plunged it in his own bosom, had she not have reentered his room at the 
moment that, under the raging agonies of self-accusation, for time, reputation, 


/ 


t 


O misspent, reason had forsook her throne, and passion’s conflict 

tore his heart to agony— when like tjie raging lion seeking whom he might 
devour, he beheld the fair, but fickle, cause of all his misery, and viewing 
her through the green glare of prejucfice, tinctured with jealousy, determined 
she should accompany him to that bourne, from whence no traveller ever 
return. Thus raging with passion, hfe seized his victim, and the first, plunge 
of the daggar sealed her doom, by enlering that heart he once fervently hoped 
was his own ; from that moment memory failed— revenge was satiated — 
madness predominated, and ideot lilie he continued to pierce the bosom he 
loved; but nature had exhausted all! her powers, his strength failed, or the 
same daggar would have united theirt heart’s blood in death, that reason and 
judgment had divided in life. From the time she was torn from his arms, 
he became nearly insensible, and rellly continued in an ideot like state of 
stupefaction, till after sentence of death was passed on him ; from that time, 
a strong desire to live predominated in his bosom, and every art was practised 
to effect an escape, but in vain ; at tiree o'clock he ascended the fatal tree; 
a 1 m, and apparently resigned, he sh ok hands with some of the people round 
him, and in a few minutes, his frail existence terminaied. 

Report says, he has relations livin in the State of New- York ; if so, they 
must be totally callous to the feelinj i of nature ; for they never visited him 
in his hours of tribulation and death : to strangers was his body resigned, anfl 
by them interred in a decent grave, rot far from the place of execution. 




library of congress 


Why, madman, why deface that breast. 

On which you fondly hoped to rest; 

Controll’d by time, and resson’s power, 
Passion would have had it’s one short hoiflri 

But now what is the dire event? 

Your untimely fate none ean lament 1 

While all doth for thy victim sigh. 

For thee no tear drops dims the ey& 

UTow fafalVjJassion linresr/ained, 

Like b raging Jiqp, Wild, untamed ; 

Voii have node a deed at , which all s^futf^ifr 

&© w'tjfread the' crime of wilful muf der c 


0 019 837 477 5 

CORRECT WeN^SS 

OF 

THE UNFORTUNATE 

JOEL CLOUGH. 

[copied from a miniature sent to his mother while under sentence 


111 fated man, who mourns thy doom? 

Thus early hasten’d to the tomb, 
Through passion’s rage without eontroT, 

. You sold your life— periaps your soul* 


